No shots were fired and the Chinese planes did not fly into territorial airspace.
Taipei:
Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Wednesday it had seen 19 Chinese Air Force planes in its air defense zone in the past 24 hours, part of what Taipei calls regular harassment by Beijing.
Taiwan, which China considers its own territory, has complained of increased Chinese military activity near the island for the past three years as Beijing tries to assert its sovereignty claims.
China has said its activities in the area are justified as it seeks to defend its territorial integrity and warn the United States of “collusion” with Taiwan, despite the anger it has sparked in Taipei.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said 19 J-10 fighters had flown to the southwestern corner of the island’s air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, though closer to China’s coast than Taiwan’s, according to a map released by the ministry.
Taiwan’s armed forces were monitoring the situation and, among other things, sending their own air force aircraft, the ministry added, using normal terms for its response to such Chinese raids.
However, the plane did not cross the sensitive centerline of the Taiwan Strait, which previously served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, but which the Chinese air force flies over almost daily since war games were staged near Taiwan last August.
No shots were fired and the Chinese plane flew into Taiwan’s ADIZ, not its territorial airspace.
The ADIZ is a wider area that monitors and patrols Taiwan, acting to give it more time to respond to any threats.
Taiwan’s democratically elected government has repeatedly offered talks with China, but says the island will defend itself if attacked and that only the Taiwanese people can decide its own future.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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